Gad Barzilai, “Culture of Patriarchy in Law: Violence from Antiquity to Modernity”, Law and Society Review Vol. 38 (4) (2004) 864-887. [article was ranked 7th as the most uploaded article of law and society published in the LSR between 2003-2005]

Culture of Patriarchy in Law: Violence from Antiquity to Modernity

Abstract

Stalking is a social behavior of repeatedly watching and imposing surveillance on the victim in ways that intimidate her autonomy. On April 3, 2001 a jury in Miami, Florida, US, had found a 46 year-old man guilty of stalking the tennis superstar Martina Hingis. He sent her flowers, faxes, letters, and then traveled to her home in Zurich, Switzerland, to tell her how much he is emotionally attached to her, after he had seen Ms. Hingis in the T V. Her friends repeatedly told him that Ms. Hingis would not like to meet him, but the stalker had insisted and followed her all around the world where she played tennis. Hingis claimed in court that she is fearful of being stalked by a ‘crazy’ fan. Other heroes of cultures, as film and music stars, experienced similar events that are constitutive parts of cultures that frantically consume sex and pornography (Friedman 1990).